Senate body orders probe into ‘overcharging’ by telco
ISLAMABAD: The Senate Standing Committee on Information Technology and Telecommunication has constituted a subcommittee to investigate allegations that a leading telecom firm had charged customers Rs5.83 billion in excess of tariffs approved by the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA). The subcommittee, headed by Senator Dr Afnanullah Khan, will examine the alleged overcharging by Jazz and…
The Senate Standing Committee on Information Technology and Telecommunication has formed a subcommittee to investigate claims that a major mobile carrier, Jazz, overcharged customers by Rs5.83 billion in excess of tariff limits approved by the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA). The committee, led by Senator Dr Afnanullah Khan, will look into the alleged overcharging by Jazz and the regulatory actions taken by the PTA.
This decision came after tense talks between PTA officials and representatives of the Auditor General of Pakistan (AGP). Committee Chair Senator Palwasha Khan tried to calm the situation when the PTA chairman threatened to resign if any corruption accusations were made against him. Jazz's spokesman stated that the issue involves two government bodies and that the company would speak up if asked by any relevant body.
The matter is tied to an audit of the PTA for 2024. The audit showed that PTA permitted a 15% tariff hike for Jazz, which is much higher than the allowed 3%. The audit also recommended getting the Competition Commission of Pakistan (CCP) to give their opinion on Jazz's tariff policy. PTA Chairman retired General Hafeezur Rehman disagreed with this suggestion, arguing that if the CCP decides the tariffs, the PTA should not be held accountable for maintaining the service quality.
He added that the PTA had been transparent in approving the 15% tariff increase for Jazz and offered to allow the matter to be examined by a forensic audit. The PTA chairman said he would step down if even a single rupee of overcharging by Jazz was found to be against the regulator's approved tariffs. He also explained that the PTA checked mobile packages before their release and checked if they followed the approved tariff structure, but the auditors had questions about the matter.
Senator Palwasha Khan decided to form the subcommittee to examine the approved tariffs, packages, and billing details to see if customers were charged more than what the regulator allowed.
Written by urgent.news from Dawn Business's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
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